Published: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.

After nearly a decade of wordsmithing, the south Manasota Key community once again has a development plan designed to protect green space and prevent high-rise condos.

The Charlotte County commissioners adopted the measure last week.

In short, the plan limits new building heights to three stories over parking, discourages the use of pile-driving during construction and keeps in place setbacks established during previous versions of the barrier island's zoning overlay.

It's not as restrictive as most residents would have preferred, but it does armor the county against Bert Harris claims, initiated when landowners feel government regulations have infringed on their private property rights.

Those concerns stalled the adoption of the plan in July. Afterward, land use attorney Rob Berntsson hashed out wording during a number of phone conversations with Manasota key advisory committee member Tina Bernd-Cohen, who was based at her second home in Montana.

The compromise allows more flexibility for the owners of 50-foot lots zoned multifamily and also clarifies the rights of property owners after a natural disaster.

"It really turned out very well," says Wayne Largent, who chairs the advisory committee. "The only thing lacking at the meeting was that no one was singing 'Kumbayah,'"

Compromise for the common good. Hmmmm. Maybe Washington and Tallahassee should take notice.

Solution ground out

No grinders, the protest signs said.

Turns out they were right, to an extent. The 216 homeowners who were scheduled for so-called grinder pumps as part of the Phillippi Creek central sewer project have earned a reprieve.

Utility staff has backed off the plan to bury the pumps in each yard. Instead, six to eight larger pumps will service all 216 homes from under roadways, where they will be accessible through manholes.

Residents feared that the pumps, which grind waste into a slurry before passing it along to a main line, would leave them in a lurch during a storm because they need electric power to operate.

They organized a protest, complete with signs in their yards and pleas to the county commissioners to come up with an alternative.

"When a few interested people go about it in the right way, they'll listen to you. That's how it worked out here," neighborhood organizer Mike Scarborough says.

The grinders remain, but in a form more centralized for maintenance.

Compromise again. Hmmm. See above.

Ballot bound, maybe

The Florida Supreme Court last week OK'd the ballot language for a constitutional amendment initiative that would guarantee funding for conservation land.

If passed, from 2015-2035, the amendment would provide $10 billion to $20 billion for buying and managing land for recreation and to protect drinking water sources.

The money would come from the existing excise tax on documents.

Environmental organizations, such as the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy, support the amendment. Now all they have to do is collect the 683,317 signatures needed to get it on the ballot. They have about half, many compiled online at floridawaterlandlegacy.org.

Some state legislators, among then Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, oppose the initiative in part because it would take spending power out of the hands of the Legislature.

<p>After nearly a decade of wordsmithing, the south Manasota Key community once again has a development plan designed to protect green space and prevent high-rise condos.</p><p>The Charlotte County commissioners adopted the measure last week.</p><p>In short, the plan limits new building heights to three stories over parking, discourages the use of pile-driving during construction and keeps in place setbacks established during previous versions of the barrier island's zoning overlay.</p><p>It's not as restrictive as most residents would have preferred, but it does armor the county against Bert Harris claims, initiated when landowners feel government regulations have infringed on their private property rights.</p><p>Those concerns stalled the adoption of the plan in July. Afterward, land use attorney Rob Berntsson hashed out wording during a number of phone conversations with Manasota key advisory committee member Tina Bernd-Cohen, who was based at her second home in Montana.</p><p>The compromise allows more flexibility for the owners of 50-foot lots zoned multifamily and also clarifies the rights of property owners after a natural disaster.</p><p>"It really turned out very well," says Wayne Largent, who chairs the advisory committee. "The only thing lacking at the meeting was that no one was singing 'Kumbayah,'"</p><p>Compromise for the common good. Hmmmm. Maybe Washington and Tallahassee should take notice.</p><p>Solution ground out</p><p>No grinders, the protest signs said.</p><p>Turns out they were right, to an extent. The 216 homeowners who were scheduled for so-called grinder pumps as part of the Phillippi Creek central sewer project have earned a reprieve.</p><p>Utility staff has backed off the plan to bury the pumps in each yard. Instead, six to eight larger pumps will service all 216 homes from under roadways, where they will be accessible through manholes.</p><p>Residents feared that the pumps, which grind waste into a slurry before passing it along to a main line, would leave them in a lurch during a storm because they need electric power to operate.</p><p>They organized a protest, complete with signs in their yards and pleas to the county commissioners to come up with an alternative.</p><p>"When a few interested people go about it in the right way, they'll listen to you. That's how it worked out here," neighborhood organizer Mike Scarborough says.</p><p>The grinders remain, but in a form more centralized for maintenance.</p><p>Compromise again. Hmmm. See above.</p><p>Ballot bound, maybe</p><p>The Florida Supreme Court last week OK'd the ballot language for a constitutional amendment initiative that would guarantee funding for conservation land.</p><p>If passed, from 2015-2035, the amendment would provide $10 billion to $20 billion for buying and managing land for recreation and to protect drinking water sources.</p><p>The money would come from the existing excise tax on documents.</p><p>Environmental organizations, such as the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy, support the amendment. Now all they have to do is collect the 683,317 signatures needed to get it on the ballot. They have about half, many compiled online at floridawaterlandlegacy.org.</p><p>Some state legislators, among then Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, oppose the initiative in part because it would take spending power out of the hands of the Legislature.</p><p>That's hardly an unintended consequence.</p><p><i>Eric Ernst's column runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.ernst@heraldtribune.com or (941) 486-3073.</i></p>